A University Food Bank's Response to COVID 19

In response to COVID 19, Michigan State University decided to go completely to remote learning on Monday, March 16th. University programs and events slowly began to cancel or transitioned online. Students eventually left campus to go be with family. The transition was difficult for many, but I have to applaud the university's efforts in ensuring students who stayed around still had access to resources needed to complete the semester. Being keenly aware that the food bank would be impacted, I wondered if the food bank would continue its services. Shortly thereafter, about a week or so from moving completely online, the food bank sent out an email and a social media announcement. They announced that they had a surplus of fully cooked meals and snacks for any student to come by and pick up. I forgot which day it was, but I believe it was a weekend. At this point, I became curious as to what they meant by "fully cooked meals". Like, who cooked them? Where did they come from? And how long would they last? Nonetheless, at this point, I was already anxious regarding peoples' response to COVID 19 - the pictures of empty shelves at the grocery store and the videos explaining how long COVID 19 lasts on stuff. I was panicking on the inside but seemed calm on the outside. I decided to make the trek to the food bank with the hope that I would not need to go to the grocery store.

When I arrived at the food back, the team members had this elaborate set up for us to pick up our fully cooked meals. There were these large catering trucks filled with cases of food. It was a lot of food! I still did not know where it came from, but I was excited! I was excited at the thought of getting these meals and not having to meal prep for a few days. I was also excited at the thought of eating different meals I usually do not cook. And I was particularly excited because they had LOADS of hardboiled eggs (I love eggs!)

See the truck?! As one would get empty another would come.

I took with me my reusable bags. And as I waited in line I saw Dr. Allyn Shaw, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, and Dr. Denise Maybank, Vice President and Associate Provost for Student Affairs. Both have been instrumental in my understanding of student affairs at MSU and have been supportive of my journey here, so it was great to see some friendly faces during these difficult times. Not only was I able to get some great meals, but I was able to say hi to some folks before I went into total isolation (afterward, I literally only went to the store if I needed something). As I got closer to the meals, I quickly realized what they meant by "fully cooked meals". They had braised beef, pulled pork, flank steak as the entree. Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and cheese and shells as sides. And different types of salads and fresh-cut veggies. In addition, they had two types of fully prepped pasta meals. I mean, it was a whole series of prepped meals!!! (Along with the hardboiled eggs, YUM!)

The hardboiled eggs were in the cartons

Dr. Allyn Shaw and Dr. Denise Maybank

Each food item had an expiration date. Ultimately, they were all set to expire within the week! I appreciated this detail because it got me thinking. How can I make the best of these meals without them going bad and without overeating? (Stress eating during these times is easy to do!) I decided to freeze half of the meals. Freezing them was the best idea because, a while back, I had already meal prepped for the following week! One of my constant challenges with participating in the MSU Food Bank is that I never run out of food and I do not eat it or cook it quick enough, so I always have a surplus of food. I started freezing my meals this spring semester to help maximize my food consumption by allowing me to preserve cooked meals, and add variety to the meals I eat throughout the week. Meaning, I meal prep twice a week and whatever extra servings I might have beyond three servings, I freeze. And then later on when I am short on money or looking for something to eat, I defrost the meals and re-prep them for the week.

In some cases, I used some of the foods to supplement other meals out of my own pantry.

Nonetheless, the food lasted me roughly 4 weeks. My conclusion is that the university cafeterias had food but no students to feed. With students leaving campus, what were they going to do with that all that food? Their idea - Cook it and pass it out to students who intend to stay so that they can have access to food without having to access the school cafeterias. Cooking the food and passing it out as meals in partnership with the university food bank was a great idea in response to COVID 19. I can honestly say with the prepped meals and with what I already had in my pantry, I was set with food all the way to May. By May 4th, my roommate and I decided to head home to Texas to be with our family. (That the next post!)

Enjoying a Brussel sprouts salad dish.

6 Semesters Using the Food Bank and One Reflection Later

I am not an expert in food insecurity. However, I can say that I grew up in a food-insecure household. We had access to social welfare programs like food stamps, las estampillas. Through the program, my mother afforded us the opportunity to have milk, eggs, cereal, and juice, among other food items to ensure we ate a well-rounded meal. My parents are migrant farmworkers, their income came once a year by working in the fields. This type of income stream can be difficult for a family, especially a family with four growing girls. Sure, they worked small jobs during Fall and Spring, but the majority of our income came from working in the fields. My parents stretched their income and provided us with a comfortable livelihood with the support of government programs. If you asked me 13 years ago about my background, I would have been ashamed because of how the media portrays families like my own. Today, I am proud to say I was raised on welfare programs. It is because of those programs that my mother knew she did not have to send us to bed with empty stomachs (unless we did not eat our food). Like they say, “Ay ai comida en la casa” and “es todo lo que ay para comer”.  So, we ate what she made.

When I started graduate school and went back on a graduate student stipend with a much more robust level of debt, I knew I would need to find ways to supplement my eating habits and new student lifestyle. I went from a full-time job to a part-time job, with work hours during the day and study hours during the evening. Not only would I need to figure out how to afford food, but when to find the time to make it and sit down and eat without compromising my wellness. Surely, I thought I just need to spend my money wisely. However, bills stacked up, tuition came in, and I found myself strapped for financial resources to feed myself. I learned about my university’s food bank program through friends and figured I had to check it out. I had thoughts of my own, however. I wondered, "I have a job, will I qualify?", "I do not “look” poor (the type of poor that you create in your mind based on the social constructions around you), will they judge me?" Or, the opposite of that, "will I be judged for being “poor”?" All the shame I felt growing up as a result of living on social welfare programs resurfaced. But still, I went. I needed food.

There was a call for participants to take part in a focus group led by staff from the university’s food bank. I decided to attend because I wanted to learn more about their program and its purpose. It is in this focus group that I learned about food insecurity and all the meanings researchers use to define it. (For more information, you can click here). I learned that food insecurity is more than just not having money for food. It is that and much more. Food insecurity is not having access to grocery stores or places that have food for you to access, like an HEB right around the corner. Food insecurity is also not having the time or place to make food, and in the case of college students, that is not having a kitchen and not having time because we are always studying, therefore opting for cheap, quick and unhealthy food habits. Given what I learned, I eventually broke my own stigma associated with food banks.

Since then, I have participated in the program for 6 semesters now.  As a result, I have learned how to manage my time around the distribution schedule so that I can make sure I am available to access its services. In addition, I also plan my grocery shopping trips around the distribution schedule so that I only buy what I need for that week or month, essentially, I supplement my food bank wins with my grocery shopping trips. And even more important, I use social media to help educate my followers about the benefits of a food bank and how food banks can be transformative spaces for college students experiencing food insecurity.

(My friend is from Texas too and we use our Texas canvas bags to get our food. Can you see our Texas and HEB pride?)

When I meal prep, I am taken back to my mother’s kitchen in our trailer home in Minnesota when we would migrate up north. Con las estampillas, she prepared for us potato and egg tacos for breakfast and bean tacos for lunch when we went to the fields. As 9-year-olds, my sisters and I managed to work 10 hours a day alongside our parents with tacos in our bellies. All she needed was potatoes, eggs, beans, and tortillas. You only need the essentials, and that is what I see the food bank doing for students.

Breaking it Down

The MSU Food Bank is the longest-running program of its kind in the nation. It works with the local community food bank to supply its items, among other efforts. In order for students to participate in the program, they must be enrolled in classes for that semester. I will be on a summer fellowship this year and unfortunately will not have access to its services, so I will be using Aldi religiously over the summer (or HEB if I get to go home).

The food bank follows two distribution schedules. One week they distribute generally non-perishable items like canned goods, pasta (like the kind to make sopita), beans, and milk and juice, enough for a week. They also distribute some produce, but for the most part its standard food items you can store in your own pantry. The alternating week they distribute strictly produce like fruits and vegetables.  Generally, I have been able to form my meals from these two distributions. The best part, I have been forced to explore recipes with vegetables, especially onions. I am not a vegetable person, I will opt for a pasta dish any time, but the program is so amazing, I cannot let vegetables go to waste.

(The semester's first wins! So glad they had eggs this time around, I LOVE eggs!)

One conversation piece I left out was that the food bank also works to combat unhealthy diets by offering healthy foods. Since I do not have to spend money on produce, I am left with the opportunity to buy chicken and ground beef/turkey resulting in delicious, hearty meals for the week. For more on what I cook with my food bank wins (I call them wins because I am truly winning here), you can follow me on Instagram @aflor324.

Setting Healthy Habits

And so the journey to the dissertation begins. WOW. How did I even get here? I remember when I decided to go for my masters, I was so afraid of leaving my family and my sisters. I was afraid of how I would manage the distance, living alone, learning to grow up without them by my side, especially my twin sister. I finally took that leap of faith and followed by my heart to a program that I knew would open my world. It was a transformative experience, one I would never trade. After my master's, I landed my first job and told myself  I was done with my education. I was happy, I had a full-time job, I was a career woman! Little did I know these professional experiences would propel me to where I am at today. I vowed that if I ever came back to school, I would have developed a work-life balance that worked for me.

(Work-life balance meant eating balanced meals - not healthy, but balanced. Balanced meals that included a little bit of protein, carbs, and sugars because I am not disciplined enough to eliminate carbs and sugars from my diet. I believe in . . . balance. Work-life balance meant to comfortably work out 3 to 5 times a week, even if that meant taking the stairs. Comfortable workouts meant I did not push myself to the brink of exhaustion because working part- or full-time alone was exhausting for me, as an introvert. Work-life balance also meant eliminating some debt before cutting my income in half. I was able to pay off my car, my zoom zoom became all mine before starting my program! So, with balanced meals, comfortable workouts, and lower debt, I surely knew I was ready to take the jump into the PhD program.)

Just the other day, like literally 6 days ago, an opinion piece was published in Inside Higher Ed -
The Hidden Challenges for Successful First-Generation Ph.D.s. It was shared with me by a former student and current mentee of mine who related to it. I opened the link and decided to take a break from my writing to read it. As I read the opening passage, I could not help but think about how I made it to this point as a first-generation student. Surely there have been many missed opportunities - moments where people with influential power controlled the outcomes and no matter what I did, without institutional capital, I would not have known how to navigate those situations. However, I have always been a believer in the saying, "Things happen for a reason". My family values and upbringing taught me to take each day as it comes and hold strong to champions. My champions are the reason I am here today. They saw a potential in me that I did not see in myself until I got admitted into the program. And even today, I continue to doubt myself. But I hold strong to these champions because, in those moments of doubt, I look towards them for validation and affirmation! Being a first-generation anything is a constant process of validation. Am I doing it right? Did I hit all the targets? Is that what you were looking for? How do you do it? How did you know to do that? Why did I not know that? The questions are endless. And they are not new. They have followed me my entire educational life and will do so in my career.

So, when my advisor asked for a very rough draft of my first three chapters, I was cool and collected at first. After all, most of my assignments have been building up to this moment. I figured, "I gotcha, I'll get it done". This weekend I sat down with my laptop to slowly being constructing my dissertation. I froze. I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I don't think many of us do. However, you know those moments where you know the energies are pushing you towards something greater? Well, I was reminded of a tiny little book that was assigned as a recommended reading to us in my research course for my master's program. When I remembered I had it, I felt the energies of affirmation from my champions. I realized that I was in the right place at the right time. I have my breakfast every morning, make sure I work out 3-5 times a week and practice healthy spending habits (sometimes 😏) in order to find that balance between my life and my academics. I can do this. If I take it one day at a time and trust in the affirmations of my champions, it will happen someday.

This is my balanced meal with cheese 😁

So, if you are a first-generation college student and you are debating to apply or to start a PhD program, or a master's program, or accept that job away from home, think about (1) the champions in your life and (2) the habits that bring balance to your life. Those champions and healthy habits are the circles that can help provide guidance on the most isolating moments of our lives. Be the first to do anything even if that means taking the stairs. 

Doing College Move-In Day the Right Way

Move-In Day (or Weekend) has an extremely special place in my heart because it signifies the start of something transformative, particularly for first-generation college students and their families. I still remember the day our mom dropped my twin and me off for what would be some of the most life-changing years of our young adult life. We were the first in our family to go to college, and it meant my mom would be leaving, not one, but two children in a remote town 7 hours from home for four years. Only God knows what my mom was thinking the day she dropped us off, but I am sure glad she came along for the ride.

My twin joined the Corps of Cadets, so her move-in time was different than mine. I was the first to get dropped off at my residence hall. I waited in a LONG line of students to pick up my room key. While I stood in line, I saw students and their families arriving in their trucks and cars and starting to unload. My anxiety began to go out the roof as I started to see the type of items students were unloading. Organizers upon organizers of stuff, televisions, microwaves, refrigerators, bedding - everything I eventually came to know as "stuff for college". I immediately questioned my place at Texas A&M. I thought, "I cannot even pack right for college, what makes me think I can do college?"  I hate that I always get these small voices of doubt in my head when it comes to doing something different, something uncomfortable, and out of the ordinary for my family. But I also appreciate the level of confidence my humble beginnings as a migrant farmworker instilled in me. I let myself get into these doubts, but then I find the courage to push them aside and keep moving forward! If I could work 8hrs for 6 days in the dead of the heat, then I can do this! So, I recentered my energies and focused on the day's mission - to move in!

Eventually, I got my room key and made my way to my room on the fourth floor of the residence hall. By the time I got there, my family had already taken all my belongings up four flights of stairs. Next up, was my twin. We got to the Corps of Cadets drop-off area where current students took my sister's belongings and escorted us to her room. They briefly showed families the residence halls and corps area, and then they were asked to leave! Oh my gosh, we lost it! Haha. You mean we cannot help her set up her room? You mean we can't go have lunch with her? You mean I won't see her at all today?! (I might be exaggerating, but felt like ripping a band-aid off!). I was so close to my sister that this would be the first time I would not see her for a consecutive number of days.

(My mom after climbing those four flights of stairs with my belongings: an organizer, a pillow, my San Marcos blanket, detergent, my backpack, and what looks like two boxes, and I think a large duffle bag of clothing)

My mom and I decided to head back to my room and set it up before she had to hit the road back home. It was a rough experience, but very eye-opening. We were not prepared for the abrupt separation. I think we thought that we would be, but we weren't, and I don't think any family is, much less first-generation families. I remember my mom telling us how she drove in tears the entire way back home - 7hrs, in tears. She had just let go of one daughter to the army a year ago, and now she had to let go of two. I am sure it was hard on her, and I am sure it still is.

Nonetheless, college move-in day for me signifies discomfort, heartache, challenge, and humility. There is no one right way to do college move-in day. With the help of administrators and current students, the level of anxiety and separation can be managed for both student and family. Today, when I am able to make it to move-in days as a volunteer, I look for those students and families who might need a little pep talk during the process to help alleviate those anxieties.

Graduate School and Food Insecurity

This post is really about my new understanding of food insecurity. Of the four institutions, I have worked at and been a student, Michigan State University has by far the best food pantry students could ask for. Growing up my family experienced food insecurity in different ways. We participated in and benefitted from programs such as food stamps, WIC, and EBT (all the same, I know). Anyhow, as a migrant farmworker, I grew up with messages such as "we were poor, which meant we probably did not eat well, which also meant we were not educated" (just some labels I internalized growing up). Therefore, I learned that food pantries were for poor, uneducated people.

After years of reconciling with the labels I grew up to hate, I have come to accept my past as a form of education and awareness. In my first year of graduate school, I learned that students may qualify for food stamps (WOAH, my mind was blown! side note: I learned this from the students I worked with). Therefore, when I decided to go back to school, I knew I wanted to explore all the ways in which I would be able to save money and make smart decisions. After a few months of living on a graduate student stipend and trying to keep up with the eating habits I created when I was a working professional, I realized I could not do that without some assistance. I applied for food stamps and qualified for $15 a month for groceries. I know what you are thinking, "That is not enough for a week of groceries" or "Food stamps is only for poor people".  One thing we often forget to realize is that college students are poor and need help, especially with the rising costs of higher education. With these $15, I decided to participate with MSU's food pantry. (Ya'll, the amount of food that we are able to receive through this program is insane!)

First, the food pantry is open every two weeks (I believe) or twice a month.

Second, to participate, you must be an enrolled student at MSU. Just bring your ID and academic schedule.

Third, they have standard products everyone has access to, and you get to choose how many of each you would like or would like to pass on. There is a standard number for each product we can take.

Fourth, there is a selection of fresh produce, bread, dairy, and other items you can select from on a first-come, first-serve basis.

My first experience with the process was overwhelming. Food insecurity is the limited access to nutritious and safe foods and the uncertainty of being able to acquire food (Nord & Prell, 2007). Surely, I did not experience food insecurity, or so I thought. My assumption was that because I had experience working full time and had a "job" then I would never experience food insecurity. After learning more about food insecurity, I came to understand how I, in fact, did not have access to good food because there were a few items I could not afford food, or there were moments where I would try to save money by eating everything in my cabinet first before going shopping even if that meant eating a can of beans for dinner (which I love doing, I love beans!). But is that healthy eating I thought? I dug deeper in my understanding of food insecurity and realized that my experience with food insecurity was similar to that of growing up. We did not have access to most healthy foods and we also had moments of "Let's see what's in the kitchen for dinner - ramen it is!" (We loved ramen growing up! But who doesn't?!). Food insecurity was that too - easy, quick, and inexpensive! So even though we might have had food in our kitchen, it was not the most healthy, and what's even more unfortunate is that these governmental food assistance programs only cover the most basic, often times unhealthy food options.

So, with a campus food pantry that had access to some healthy options, I decided to share my new found appreciation and understanding of the food pantry with my other graduate friends who were in the same boat as me - trying to save money, trying to eat healthy, and trying to meal prep. I say, if you are considering going back to school and are worried about maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle, consider if the school you intend on applying to has an accessible food pantry and look into governmental food assistance programs. I get my most basic needs with food stamps (which I may discontinue in the future - another conversation) and supplement it with what I get at the food pantry.

Below is a picture of one night's collection at the food pantry. Milk, apple juice, a WHOLE dozen of eggs (side note: I almost cried at the thought of being able to take a full carton of eggs home, I think the student staff might have thought I was overreacting, but this was my first time too), MSU Dairy Cheese (the best!), beans, corn, a can of Rotel (made me some mean cabbage soup with it #noms), chicken noodle soup (which I supplemented with a grilled cheese sandwich), peanut butter (which I ate with bananas, apples, and overnight oatmeal), raisins, peaches, applesauce, snack bars, Ritz crackers, and Oreos (mind you, we do not need to get all of this). I would have left the cookies and ritz crackers, but I also like to be considerate of my sweet tooth and snack tooth. I do not believe in diets, so I tend to have my sodium and sugars in moderation. But as you can see, I can supplement this with some spinach, rice, and protein, like chicken.

I share this story (1) to be honest about my own experiences with food insecurity and (2) to humanize the experience of food pantries and food assistance programs. It is my strong believe that there are communities out there, specifically communities of color and poor families, who need access to programs like these while at the same time deserve access to healthy food options. So my question to you is: Have you experienced food insecurity growing up, as a student, and/or as a professional? 

"You are not an immigrant"

So many times I have heard the phrase "You are not an immigrant", or the likes of "you are not an illegal immigrant", or "our family are not immigrants", etc, I can go on. Whenever I get into conversations, or arguments, on immigration reform I always hear those phrases. Phrases that act to erase my family's history and the history of Latinos in this country. Perhaps the people saying it and who firmly believe it, are going through their own internalized oppressive journey to liberation, or maybe not.

I remember growing up in deep south Texas surrounded by a mix of Hispanics who did not like to be referred to as Mexican-Americans, who refused to be associated to the label as if being Mexican-American meant you were less than, inferior to Hispanics. And then there were those Hispanics who proudly spoke Spanish, wore their Mexican jerseys and guayaberas proudly. Being the naive and impressionable kid I was, I grew up so confused as to who I was and where I came from. As a family, we would do our yearly treks to Mexico, take the libre down to San Luis Potosi to visit my mom's family. It was like migrating all over again but to Mexico this time. So, between travels to Minnesota and North Dakota in the summers and Mexico in the springs, who was I? What was my family?

I was born in McAllen, TX to a migrating family. My father was part of a legacy of migrant farmworkers, where working the fields was a family tradition, our income, the way of life. I do not know fully my father's immigrant story, but what I do know is that my grandfather would cross the states looking for labor work in the fields. He was born in Mexico and so was my grandma, and my father. So they are immigrants to this country. My mother married into my father's family and thereby became a farm laborer as well. My mother's story is the one I want to focus on. It is with her permission that I share this. 

My mother was born in the poverty-stricken ranchos of San Luis Potosi Mexico in 1963. At a young age, her mother would then give her up to her aunt who brought her to the U.S. Our maternal grandmother birthed 12 kids, 4 of which outsurvived the deserts of SLP and for some, border crossings. My mother jokes around with her oldest brother about who they would have become had they stayed in their beloved rancho. I can see in mom's eyes the love she has for SLP and for the small family she has left in Mexico. Despite having left at such a young age, my mom and my uncle still make strides to stay connected with family in Mexico, and because of them, we still continue to be connected as well. My mom's naturalization process is another story. According to my dad, he tried to help my mom get her citizenship when they married, but it never materialized. Eventually, through former president, George Bush's amnesty program of 1990, my mother was able to become a naturalized citizen. All I remember from that night was waiting hours upon hours for my mom to come out of whatever building we were at. It was almost close to midnight when she came out. My sisters and I had to have been 5 years old when that happened. I was exhausted and just wanted to go home. I never understood the gravity of that night until I grew up and began to understand our history's struggle with immigration reform.

(My parents on the back of pick up truck somewhere in North Dakota) 

Sometimes I think about how blessed my mother and father were to have immigrated during a time where the word "immigrant" or "Mexican" did not carry such negative connotations. But even thinking of the word "blessed" is so contradicting. Am I really blessed, or were we just one of the lucky ones? Nowadays, rhetoric is filled with so much fate and fear-mongering undertones that no one in my community is safe. Just today, I read an article about how naturalized citizens are now vulnerable to deportation as well. Old police records are being dug up on naturalized citizens in order to use their history against them and deport them. What have we become? Are we not a country of immigrants? Did our founders fight for nothing? Who are you?

I am a proud child of immigrants, a child of farm laborers, a daughter to a father who literally still breaks his back to feed America. I am also my mother's mother's dream who dreamt of a better future for her daughter. Had my mom's mom not thought about the future of her daughter, my family would not be here today. My mother oftentimes reflects on her mother's wish to send her away. How does a mother reconcile the love she has for daughter when she sends her away? There are thousands upon thousands of mothers with their children at the border desperate for a better and safer life for their offspring. This is my mother's tale, except my mother, came with her aunt and they were not separated at the border.

If you are looking for ways to #keepfamiliestogether, here are two ways borrowed from my dear friend, Alejandra: 
1) Contact your reps.

Identify your reps. (https://www.contactingcongress.org/) Save their numbers in your phone. 

If you're not sure what to say, consider subscribing to a resource like the Americans of Conscience Checklist (https://docs.google.com/…/1zUyqluASyMjyIGCHfwocwmul…/preview).

2) Donate. A good list to start can be accessed here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/opinion/children-parents-asylum-immigration.html

Writing with a Purpose

Since starting my doctorate program, I have reflected on different life choices and the reasons for making them. I left Texas to pursue my master's degree for myself. I wanted to grow as an individual and I knew leaving Texas and leaving my comfort zone would help me develop into a more confident and resilient individual. It was definitely a life-changing and life-altering experience that I needed at the moment of my life. I engaged in multiple levels of diversity work and difficult conversations I would not have otherwise received in Texas, at least not in the way I experienced it in Vermont. However, I knew I wanted to come back to Texas. I missed my family, I missed my state, and I missed my comfort zone. I came back a transformed person ready to transform Texas! So the decision to get my master's was for myself.

Today, I am done with year one of my doctoral program and am once again I am being pushed out of my comfort zone, this time it is my academic skills - comprehension, analytics, writing, etc. I thought I knew it all. I struggled so much this first year. I struggled to find a rhythm to my writing, to find a pattern to my reading, and to find my lens. What was I looking for in the readings? Why is my lens on these readings important? How do I process these readings to make sense of them in terms of my research and experiences? Imposter syndrome was so real. I never experienced imposter syndrome to this extent. I mean, as a first-generation college student I made it through my undergraduate degree. My master's experience was difficult but I made it through that too. So, I was sure to make it through this program with flying colors.

This new blog is going to be about practicing my writing and making sense of the things happening around me. They say that if you do not like reading or writing, then a doctoral program is not for you. It is not that you will not be able to understand the material, it is more about the amount of reading and writing one will undertake to complete a doctorate degree. Luckily, I like both. For me, the challenge is staying committed and empowered to push through the amount of reading and writing without succumbing to bad voices in my head telling me to stop.

I am a former migrant farmworker student. I traveled with my family to the fields of North Dakota and Minnesota for about 15-18 years of my life. I worked alongside my family for 8 years in the sugar beet and soybeans of Minnesota, and one year of detasseling corn in Illinois. I know first hand the lessons of hard work, the pain of callused hands, and annoyance of mud, grasshoppers, and mosquitos. I decided to return to school for my PhD because I still have the undying passion to give voice to the children and families who harvest our food. Most importantly, I want to explore the significant role parents and family members play in the college choice process for many first-generation college students, like migrant farmworker students. My master's degree was for myself, but this PhD is for the voiceless migrants all over our nation.

So, if you are interested in going back to school, whether it is an associates degree, a bachelors degree, a second bachelors degree, a masters degree, a second masters degree, a third masters! Or a PhD, find your purpose first. It is what will help keep you burning the midnight oil.

Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope you are able to get something out of it, even if its an example of 'bad writing'. My hope in writing this blog is to share my thoughts, my experiences, and also to improve my writing for the ultimate dissertation.